


Deer in Headlights

by Phi_JiJi



Series: My ONF OneShots [6]
Category: ONF (Band)
Genre: Animal Characteristics, Bullying, Childhood Friends, Crushes, Crying, Cute, First Kisses, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Having Secrets, Highschool AU, How Do I Tag, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Betaed, Shy Kissing, a tiny bit of angst, classtrip, deerbeast!Hyojin, teen and up bc language, wolfbeast!Seungjoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26716771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phi_JiJi/pseuds/Phi_JiJi
Summary: In a world where everyone has a beast form, it can be a blessing or a curse depending on the person.Some decide to hide their beast form their entire life because they are ashamed of it, simply don't like it or are afraid of others.
Relationships: Kim Hyojin/Lee Seungjun | J-Us
Series: My ONF OneShots [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901191
Comments: 10
Kudos: 41





	Deer in Headlights

In a world where everyone has a beast form, it can be a blessing or a curse depending on the person.  
Some decide to hide their beast form their entire life because they are ashamed of it, simply don't like it or are afraid of others.

One of those who were afraid was Hyojin. And that for multiple reasons.   
First of all, he was adopted by a couple, whose beast forms were both wolves, so he also automatically grew up surrounded by almost only wolves or other carnivores. And honestly, he was also pretty sure that if his parents would've known about his form back then, they would've adopted another kid.  
Then, his best friend which he knew since childhood was also a wolf, raised by wolves and surrounded by wolves. And even now, both of them in their last year of school, he didn't know about Hyojin's beast form.  
And lastly, 95% of his class were carnivores as well. And even if all of them had human forms, carnivores and omnivores often looked down on herbivores, seeing them as the weaker and that they had to subordinate to them.

Therefore, it was safer just to not show your beast form at all. Sure, people would assume that those who hide their forms were herbivores, simply to bully them, but plenty of carnivores and omnivores also hid their beast-side

Usually, that wouldn't be a problem for Hyojin, just staying in his full human form during school. But their teacher announced a school trip that would be an entire week...

"I already can't wait!" Seungjun exclaimed next to him, leaning back on his chair. "It'll be so cool. A week without our parents," he continued his rant.  
Hyojin didn't really comment on it, instead, he went through his schedule, trying not to think how much of a hell that week will get.

"What do you think of it?" Seungjun then asked him, his fluffy wolf ears twitching in anticipation, he always had difficulties keeping his beast form in when he was excited.  
"It's just a school trip, nothing exciting," Hyojin shrugged, it was a pretty bad lie but he knew Seungjun would believe him.  
"Come on, Hyo! It'll be fun," the younger promised, taking the small book out of Hyojin's hand so he would finally look at him.  
"Yeah, sure," he sighed, looking at his friend.

Both of them knew that Hyojin didn't have any friends other than Seungjun and his closest friends, who he introduced to the older and were a few of those who wouldn't bully others.  
Jaeyoung was one of them. One of the few herbivores that wouldn't get bullied by the others. But who would want to argue with a gorilla? Strong herbivores still had a chance to keep up with the others but it wasn't guaranteed.

Their teacher dismissed them so Hyojin got his planner back from Seungjun and packed his bag to go home.  
But before he could leave his seat, he felt Seungjun holding him back by the sleeve of his uniform.  
"Do you want to go out with us tonight?" he asked the older.  
"Seungjun, it's Friday, you know I can't," Hyojin told him with a sigh, leaving the room and building once Seungjun let go of him.

Of course, Seungjun knew that, but Hyojin had been acting differently lately and it somehow annoyed him because Hyojin wouldn't talk about it with him.  
Sure, Hyojin was always the quiet kid in class but not outside of it, so it was only natural for him to be concerned.

"Maybe he's just going through something," Yuto tried to cheer him up.  
"But why won't he talk about it then?" Seungjun asked with a whine, also packing his bag since the others were only waiting for him.  
"Some things have to be gone through alone," the younger told him even though he knew Seungjun wouldn't accept it just like that.

The rest of the day, while Seungjun was out with the others, he couldn't help but be concerned about his friend.   
He was thinking about dropping by his house when he was on his way home, but he also didn't want to bother Hyojin and just annoy him more with that.

"Seungjun, it's your turn," Minkyun reminded him, making him take his eyes off his phone, where he was just staring at the chat between him and Hyojin.  
The others all knew that he was worried about the older so they tried their best to keep him distracted for the time being, which usually worked just fine... but this time it didn't.

Even late at night, when Seungjun was sitting at his desk, doing the rest of his homework, his thoughts continuously went back to Hyojin and his changed behaviour.  
Does he not like him anymore? Did he do something wrong?

His fingers were itching to just call him, despite the fact that it was almost midnight already. But he didn't care, he just hoped that Hyojin was still awake and would pick up.

"What is it?" he heard on the other side of the line when Hyojin finally picked up.  
Usually, he didn't have any problems talking to anyone, especially Hyojin. But somehow, he didn't get a word out for a few moments, like a lump was stuck in his throat.

"I... can I come over?" he asked. He heard some shuffling on Hyojin's end, he probably sat up.  
"At this hour?" Hyojin yawned, "did you even look at the time?".  
"Yes, sorry. I just... I just wanted to talk to you, in person," Seungjun muttered. This was a stupid idea after all.  
"Fine. But be quiet when you're here," Hyojin told him with a sigh.

Seungjun practically jumped up from his chair, thanking Hyojin before ending the call and getting ready.

On the other side of the line, Hyojin couldn't help but sigh as he stood up out of bed.  
He made his way to the front door to wait for Seungjun as it wouldn't take too long until he was there when he met his mother.  
"Why are you still awake?" his mother asked with a frown.  
"Seungjun is coming over," he explained to her.  
"At this hour? Did something happen?" she wanted to know.  
"He said he wanted to talk," Hyojin shrugged.

"Did you tell him yet?" she then asked.  
Hyojin lowered his head at that question. "No," he mumbled.  
"You know you should sooner or later," she reminded him, "it's not good to keep secrets from your friends."  
"I know..." Hyojin answered, "I just don't want him to hate me," he added.  
"He wouldn't hate you, darling. He has no reason to," she argued.  
" _Then_ he would have, though," he told her, his eyes still sticking to the ground.  
"No, he wouldn't. You know that he wouldn't hate you because of that," she promised, running her hand through his hair. "Lying to him doesn't only hurt you but him as well."  
"I'm not ly-" Hyojin wanted to argue, lifting his head but the expression on his mother's eyes showed him that he wasn't right.  
"You're not saying the truth either," she told him before continuing her way to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Seungjun texted him that he was outside, so he quickly pushed the button to open the front door.  
Seungjun's hair was all over the place, he looked like he ran the way over. Considering how heavy his breath was, that might actually be the case.  
He didn't even wait for the door to fall into its lock before hugging Hyojin, who almost lost balance due to it.

"Did something happen?" Hyojin asked him, running his hand through Seungjun's soft hair.  
Sure, Seungjun has always been a bit clingy but something felt different.  
The younger just slowly shook his head before reluctantly loosening the hug.  
"Let's go to my room," Hyojin then whispered, taking Seungjun by the hand even if the younger knew exactly where his room was. 

Hyojin's room was still completely dark and neither of them really bothered to turn the lights on as they could both see pretty well during the night.  
"Did I wake you up?", Seungjun asked when he saw the kicked back blanket on the bed.  
"I wasn't asleep yet," Hyojin told him, sitting down on the edge of his bed, Seungjun sitting down next to him.  
"Sorry..." the younger mumbled, his droopy eyes resembled more of a lost puppy than a wolf.  
"It's fine," Hyojin reassured him, "what did you want to talk about?" he wanted to know.

Suddenly, Seungjun felt bad. It was already late at night and he knew that if he would ask Hyojin what he wanted to ask, he would probably think about it for way longer than necessary.  
"I... uh, I forgot," he muttered, smiling apologetically.

Hyojin only sighed at that, knowing exactly that he was lying.  
"Then come and lie down, I'm tired," he muttered, already climbing back under his warm blanket.

Without hesitating much, Seungjun got rid of his long clothes he just put on to come over and laid down next to Hyojin.  
They were used to this. They slept in the same bed most of their childhood since their mothers were best friends already and their dads also became best friends after meeting through their wives.

Nowadays it surely wasn't as frequent but it was somehow grounding to sleep next to the one you trust with your whole heart and life.  
Seungjun let out a content sigh before turning to his side and pulling Hyojin close to his chest, burying his nose in his hair.

Seungjun stayed awake for quite a while, even after Hyojin had already fallen asleep, his thoughts running 100km/h and just didn't calm down.  
Somewhen, in the middle of the night, Hyojin turned around in his sleep, burying one of his hands in Seungjun's hair, subconsciously petting him.  
"Fluffy..." he lowly muttered into Seungjun's chest and the other couldn't help but smile at that.

At some point, he finally fell asleep, holding Hyojin close like he was the most precious thing in his entire life (which he honestly was).

"Wake up kids, breakfast is ready," Hyojin’s mother announced when she came into the room, opening the blinds and letting the sun in.  
Both of the boys just answered with some kind of noise, still half asleep and not really comprehending what was being said.  
The woman only laughed at that and left the room, deciding to check in on them ten minutes later again, if they didn't get up until then.

"Hyo?" Seungjun tiredly muttered, his eyes still closed.  
"Hm?" he got as a response, Hyojin's hand still in Seungjun's hair, slowly running up and down the back of Seungjun's head.  
"We should get up," the younger told him, trying to somehow sort Hyojin's messy hair with one hand.  
"Don't wanna, it's Saturday," Hyojin argued with a whine.  
"But your mom already made breakfast," Seungjun laughed, slowly detangling their bodies and sitting up, much to the disappointment of the older.  
"Meanie," he muttered, rolling on his back and rubbing his eyes.

Seungjun laughed at that. "Well, I don't know about you but I don't want to miss out on your mom's cooking," he shrugged, climbing over Hyojin to get out of the bed.  
Hyojin grumbled something under his breath while also sitting up, not fully getting up yet though.

"Yesterday..." he started his string of thought, instantly getting the attention from Seungjun who was currently searching Hyojin's closet for a fitting hoodie, "sorry for my behaviour," he then mumbled.  
"It's okay. I know you don't like going out that much," Seungjun smiled warmly, putting on the hoodie and going back to the bed. "When we're on the class trip, let's just get a room with the other four and ignore the rest, okay?" he suggested, running his hand through Hyojin's hair.

Hyojin slowly nodded at that, even though that wasn't his only worry for that week. But he would have to find a solution for that later...

"Come on, let's go eat something before it gets cold," Seungjun then announced, leaping up from the bed, dragging Hyojin along, who could only laugh at his best friend’s behaviour. 

At the breakfast table, Seungjun excitedly told Hyojin's parents about the upcoming trip since Hyojin most probably didn't do it yet.  
Of course, they were happily participating in the conversation but they both had the same worry that Hyojin had the entire time but they didn't show.

Later that evening, when Seungjun went home again, Hyojin's mother stopped Hyojin from just going straight back into his room.  
"You have to tell somebody if you're going on a trip for a week, you know how things could turn out if no one knows about it," she told him in a strict tone.  
The expression in Hyojin's eyes was like a silent plea and she could understand it but she really didn't want to risk it.  
"But... if there was really something to happen, can't a teacher call you and ask you in that exact situation?" he asked, practically begging to keep his secret for longer.  
His mother sighed, she knew how much Hyojin was afraid of being rejected by his few friends, especially Seungjun but the latter also had other herbivores as friends so she couldn't understand why Hyojin was so afraid of telling him.

"Okay fine... make sure you take enough medicine with you for those seven days, okay?" she requested to which Hyojin quickly nodded.   
"I'll take everything I need with me, like always," he promised before being dismissed to his room.

Like that, the week that remained before the trip just flew by. Hyojin got more nervous every day.

Now, he was standing in front of the bus, waiting for the diver to let them in. Seungjun was standing right next to him, all giddy and excited, a feeling Hyojin couldn't relate to but he tried his best to at least not look like he wanted to die already.  
"Let's go to the back," Seungjun giggles, shaking Hyojin by his shoulder.  
"No, you'd get motion sick before we're even on the highway. We will sit in the front or you'll go sit alone," Hyojin told him, trying to still him by holding his arms.  
"You're mean," Seungjun whined.  
"Yeah, because I don't want dog-barf on my lap," the older muttered.  
"Can I at least sit at the window then?" Seungjun begged with big eyes.  
"Sure," Hyojin sighed, stumbling a bit when Seungjun supported his whole weight on Hyojin's smaller body.

Finally, the driver opened the doors and Seungjun was the first to bolt into the bus to save a seat, the others following slower but still pushing to get a decent seat.  
Since Seungjun already had a seat, Hyojin didn't stress about it that much and just sat down next to his friend once he was on the bus.

On the other side of the passage, Yuto and Jaeyoung sat down so Hyojin also didn't have to worry about that for the drive. Maybe he will be able to get some sleep since their teachers sat behind them and Changyoon and Minkyun sat behind the other two.

Seungjun luckily fell asleep quite early on the ride, so he won't be as motion sick when they finally get off the bus.

The hostel was quite nice and they had rooms ranging from 4 to 8 beds, so Seungjun was quick to claim one with 6 for all of his friends to be in the same room.

"God I'm tired," Seungjun muttered once they got into the room, sitting down on the first bed in reach.  
"Didn't you sleep the whole way here?" Yuto remarked, climbing on one of the bunk beds.  
"So what if I did?" Seungjun muttered, sitting up with a yawn, "I'm still nocturnal, so if I get the chance to sleep the entire day I will take it."

The other's just took that with a laugh while choosing their beds.  
"We have free time until dinner. Should we go out and explore the city?" Changyoon suggested with a sly smile. "Just, like getting to know where everything is of course."  
"You just want to go out to find some place to eat," Minkyun argued with a frown.  
"That might be true... but like, we're here for seven entire days! Like I could eat a hostel's dump for so long," he whined.

"You can go out, I'll stay and sleep for a bit longer," Seungjun told them, leaning his head on Hyojin's shoulder as he sat down next to him, too lazy to climb onto the upper bed.  
"I'll stay too," Hyojin joined the younger, feeling tired as well since he couldn't sleep well on the bus.

The other four, therefore, got ready to head out.  
"Is there anything we should get for you?" Jaeyoung asked, the other three already jumping along the hallway.  
"No, we're fine," Hyojin told him with a smile, letting out a small sigh when he closed the door.

"Wanna cuddle?" Seungjun asked, opening his arms.  
Hyojin only hummed before letting Seungjun embrace him, lying on top of him.  
Maybe, with Seungjun at his side, this trip won't get as bad...

The door opened with a creak and Minkyun was quick to shush the other's when he saw that Seungjun and Hyojin were asleep.  
"If they will keep us up the whole night, I will throw them out of the window," Yuto muttered, setting the bag of stuff they bought.

They already knew well how close the two were, so they didn't even question it. Especially since Seungjun was extremely clingy and protective over the older, which they honestly found endearing at times.

"I'm sure Hyojin will keep him quiet," Changyoon laughed, going through the bag to find some of the sweets that he could eat already.  
"Imagine they both were as hyper as Seungjun though," Minkyun chuckled, "that would definitely be a rollercoaster wherever they would go."

When it was time for dinner, Jaeyoung woke up Seungjun and Hyojin.   
The older got up pretty instantly while they had to drag Seungjun out of bed.

The good thing was, you wouldn't necessarily attract any attention depending on your diet. After all, carnivores don't live off meat alone when they're in their human form. So it wasn't that big of a deal that Hyojin was a vegetarian, a few omnivores were vegetarian as well.

After dinner, the teacher quickly explained roughly how the week would go and dismissed them again after telling them that they could do whatever they wanted, as long as they would be back before 10 p.m. because the hostel would lock the doors then.

The six of them made their way back into their room and Minkyun suggested to play a few games since he packed a few against boredom.   
With that, they played some card games, which Yuto and Changyoon won most of the time, much to the frustration of Minkyun.  
"Stupid raven," he muttered after Yuto won against him again.  
"Actually, it would be clever raven," he corrected the other, getting a death glare in response.

They played until it was late at night and the room was mainly lit through the lanterns and moon shining outside.  
"Maybe we should go to sleep for today, I didn't really listen to the teacher when she explained where we were going tomorrow," Jaeyoung said when they ended another round.  
"I think we are going to visit some museums and monuments," Seungjun said with a shrug, "we only have to be awake enough to walk," he added laughing. 

Most of the others agreed with his argument but Jaeyoung continued to collect the cards and put them back into their box.  
"You can play more tomorrow," he told them, "it's almost 1 a.m., so we should get ready for bed."

With that, they all took turns in the bathroom to get ready for bed, Hyojin being the first and Minkyun the last as he needed the most time.   
But even after they were all in bed, most of them weren't going to sleep just yet, rather playing on their phones and catching up with their social media. 

It must be past 2 a.m. already when Hyojin heard the bed creak before noticing someone climbing up the short ladder.  
He felt a wet nose nudge him under his ear, causing him to unconsciously lift the blanket a bit so Seungjun could lie under it as well.

Seungjun's wolf-fur was warm and fluffy and when he buried one of his hands in it, he could feel Seungjun's steady pulse and breathing.   
It wasn't unusual that the younger came to his bed to cuddle when they were on trips, him being in his wolf form also wasn't anything new so Hyojin didn't even bother to ask if there was a reason for it other than pure habit. But nonetheless, it calmed him down and made him fall asleep almost instantly after Seungjun fully settled.

The next day went by okay, they divided into small groups, so they were pretty much the same as their rooms while they went through the museums.  
While Seungjun and Minkyun wanted to rush through to find somewhere to sit down and do nothing, Hyojin and Yuto actually took some time to look at the things and read the signs.  
The monuments weren't that interesting though as they pretty much looked exactly like the internet and schoolbooks portrayed them.

On their way back, it started to rain and even though they weren't really bothered by that, none of them wanted to catch a cold on the second day of their trip already so they half-assedly ran back to the bus to get into the dry again.  
Due to the bad weather, they had to cancel the rest of the plans that were outside so instead of the other monuments, they went into one last museum where they would have to spend the rest of the day, though, after some time a few students managed to convince their teacher that they could go shopping too once they were finished with the museum.

"Let's get something to eat when we get out of here, I'm starving," Changyoon whined.  
"Is food really the only thing you think about?" Minkyun laughed as he walked next to him.  
"When I'm hungry, yes," the smaller muttered, crossing his arms in front of his chest.  
They were once again waiting for Yuto and Hyojin to finish walking through the room so they just walked circles or sat down on one of the few benches. 

"Can't you two go and collect your boyfriends?" Changyoon then asked the other two who didn't participate in their conversation.  
"You can just go first if you don't want to wait a few more minutes," Seungjun shrugged, not seeing the need to rush the other two. He was honestly just glad that Hyojin was having a good time.

After Changyoon continued to whine about wanting to go to eat something, Hyojin and Yuto gave in to his whining and sped up a bit since they didn't want him to annoy everyone in the entire museum. 

In the end, they went to Subway where Changyoon even paid for Hyojin and Yuto's food as an apology for rushing them, even if they both told him that it was fine.

"You know, if you want to we can come here again, without other people," Seungjun told Hyojin as they were eating.  
"No, it's fine, I guess I saw the things that interested me," Hyojin denied with a smile.

When they were back in the hostel, they finally got the chance to change out of their wet clothes and they all took a quick shower to minimize the chances of getting sick.  
"I hope we won't do stuff like that every day, that's super boring," Changyoon then muttered, climbing onto his bed.  
"It's a school trip, of course, we won't do anything of big interest," Minkyun laughed as he was sitting on the table, staring out of the window.  
"Maybe we'll get a free day or two and we can just do what we want!" Yuto exclaimed excitedly. his feet dangling off the top bed, almost into Jaeyoung’s face if it wasn't for him sitting a tad bit further to the left.  
"That's too good to be true and you know it," Seungjun laughed.   
He was sitting on Hyojin's bed together with the older, who was mindlessly tapping on his phone, probably playing some games while waiting for his hair to dry so he can finally lie down properly.

He was also trying his best to just ignore Seungjun's hand on his thigh, squeezing it every now and then.  
It really took his all not to react to it and he was honestly glad that the other's didn't seem to notice how flustered he was by such a small action.  
Seungjun is his best friend, for fucks sake. His heartbeat shouldn't be that quick when your best friend touches you.

"Hyo? Are you alright? Your face is all red," Seungjun asked, his face so close that it made Hyojin wonder when he inched in.  
Hyojin almost hit his head on the wall behind him from backing up. "Yeah, I'm just fine," he mumbled.  
Carefully, as if he was afraid to hurt Hyojin with his touch, he placed his hand on Hyojin's forehead. "Doesn't seem like you have a fever though," Seungjun then said with a relieved sigh.  
"I told you I'm fine," Hyojin said with a pout.  
"Sorry, I was just worried," Seungjun admitted, his puppy eyes turning sad.  
"No, it's okay," Hyojin reassured him, ruffling through Seungjun's hair.

"You two really are disgustingly cute together. Is that how it's like to be friends with someone for so long?" Minkyun laughed after observing the whole situation.  
"I don't know, get your own and tell us," Seungjun joked, his head now resting on Hyojin's lap while the older continued to pet him.

Seungjun could honestly stay like this forever. As long as he was with Hyojin he didn't need anything else, his presence bringing him warmth and peace.  
But even now, when Hyojin was doing nothing more than just running his hand through his hair, playing with a few strands. When Seungjun looked up to him and locked his eyes on Hyojin's exposed neck he felt the desire to bite, wanting to mark him all up, making sure that he was his, and his alone. 

He noticed how he was clenching his jaw and his fangs growing so he quickly tried to think of something else.  
He was just so afraid to scare Hyojin away if he wouldn't hold back. Even if they promised that they would never leave each other's sides... losing Hyojin would probably forever be his biggest fear.

"Did Seungjun really just fall asleep while I was talking to him?" Minkyun asked with a frown.  
"No, he just zoned out," Hyojin informed him, gently running his hand over Seungjun's cheek to get him out of it again.  
"Minkyun was talking to you," he told him when he looked at him with questioning eyes.  
Seungjun then sat up a bit, looking down to his friend. "What were you saying?" he asked but Minkyun dismissed him with a gesture.  
"It's fine, go back to sleep," he laughed. So Seungjun plopped down on Hyojin's legs again with a deep sigh.

The group continued to talk for a bit until it was time to meet up with the class again to eat dinner, for which they then had to cut the conversation short in hopes to remember where they were when they got back to their room. 

But of course, they forgot, distracted by the conversations taking place during dinner.  
So when they got back into their room, they stayed silent for a while, not knowing what to say anymore. 

"There's an arcade not too far from here where we could go," Changyoon then suggested.  
"Sure, sounds like fun," Minkyun agreed, hopping off the table to get ready.

"Are you coming too?" Seungjun asked Hyojin once he climbed off the bed, leaning against the frame.  
"I'll stay here, you go out and have fun," Hyojin smiled, ruffling Seungjun's already messy hair.  
The younger only pouted, wanting his best friend to go out and have fun with them but he knew there was no way of convincing him to come with them.  
"Fine... but call me if you need anything," he said.  
"I will, no worries," Hyojin promised with a smile, waiting for them to leave the room before he let out a small sigh.

On one side he loved being so close to Seungjun but on the other, he also feared it, the fear of Seungjun possibly hating him coming back to his mind regularly. 

Muttering under his breath how he shouldn't think about it, he took his book out from under his pillow so he could read to distract himself, possibly even falling asleep before the others came back. 

The other five that went to the arcade actually had quite a blast even if they sent a fair amount of the money they had for all of the following days, but it didn't matter that much to them as they were just having fun. 

"The doors get locked in half an hour, we should get back," Jaeyoung then announced when he looked at his phone when he wasn't playing some game.   
"Yeah, I might need another shower too," Yuto laughed, sitting next to the older.

Therefore, Minkyun and Changyoon played their last game before they made their way back to the hostel, trying to keep quiet as it was the middle of the night after all.

When they entered the room, it was completely dark so they all thought that Hyojin was already asleep, shushing their voices even more while getting ready for bed.

Seungjun was sitting on his bed, waiting for his turn in the bathroom, when he heard a small whine coming from Hyojin's bed,  
"Hyo? Are you awake?" he asked in a whisper, standing up and looking on the upper bunk bed where his friend was lying. But he didn't answer, only another whine left his lips when he turned around. 

Hyojin was usually a pretty calm sleeper, so it somehow worried Seungjun.  
"Hyojin," he said, a bit louder this time, reaching out for the older's shoulder, only to notice that his body was glowing hot, worrying Seungjun even more.

"Hyojin, wake up," he called out, the panic probably visible on his face.  
When he finally opened his lids and looked at Seungjun, there was something in his eyes he had never seen.  
"Are you okay?" Seungjun asked him.  
"What happened?" Hyojin mumbled in a whisper.  
"I thought you were just not sleeping well but your whole body is hot," Seungjun explained to him with a frown.  
"Maybe I'm getting a fever after all," Hyojin smiled weakly, sitting up a bit.  
"No, this doesn't look like a fever," Seungjun argued.  
"It'll be just fine, I bet. I'll take some meds and we'll see how it is in the morning, okay?" Hyojinthen suggested.

Of course, Seungjun wasn't too keen on the idea that Hyojin might be seriously sick and he was talking it down like a cold, but he also knew that there was no use to go look for a doctor at this hour anyway.  
"Fine," he muttered his agreement, going over to Hyojin's bag to give him his first-aid baggie, "but I'm staying with you tonight," he then added.  
"Sure," Hyojin smiled, rolling over to the edge of the bed so the younger could climb up.

The other four just watched silently. Only Yuto had a slight idea of what was going on. Maybe that was only because the others are all stupid, or because he was way more observant, but he wondered how Seungjun still had no idea even after all those years... But it might also just seem natural to him because he's been with Hyojin almost his entire life.

Seungjun didn't really care that he didn't wash up after all and was just holding Hyojin as close as it was physically possible, even if that meant that he would stay awake the whole night due to the heat Hyojin gave off.

As predicted, Hyojin's temperature wasn't any better the next morning, so Yuto went and reported to their teachers while Seungjun somehow got Hyojin ready to leave.

The drive to the hospital luckily wasn't long but the time Seungjun had to sit outside of the treatment room while the doctor was checking up on Hyojin felt like forever.  
Their teacher went outside to call Hyojin's parents to tell them what happened, so Seungjun tried to somehow distract himself with his phone but after a few minutes it didn't help much either.

After what felt like hours, the doctor finally came out of the room.  
"He's fine, he just had a sudden start of his mating cycle. We've put him on some medication to calm it down again which he should take for the next few days and everything should be back to normal then," he explained to Seungjun.

He only mumbled a slightly confused ‘thanks’ before he was allowed to go to Hyojin.  
"How are you feeling?" he asked as Hyojin stood up from his seat.  
"Better, I think..." Hyojin mumbled, his steps staggering a bit so Seungjun carefully supported him.

"The teacher already called your parents and is waiting outside," Seungjun told the older as they were walking down the hallway of the hospital.  
Hyojin only sighed at that, clenching the pack of medicine in his jacket pocket.

Back at the hostel, they were the only ones from their class that were there, since the others went on another trip and their other teacher accompanied them after Seungjun told her that he would be looking after Hyojin.

The older was still a bit out of it from the medication he was given, so Seungjun helped him get out of his shoes and jacket before laying him down on his bed, not wanting him to climb up the ladder.

"You should get as much rest as possible," Seungjun advised him, sitting next to him. But Hyojin just let out a disagreeing whine as he buried his face in Seungjun's pillow.  
Seungjun chuckled at that, running his hand through Hyojin's hair and placing his hand on his cheek after he turned towards him a little.   
"Rest, okay? I'll protect you," Seungjun promised, a warm and genuine smile painted on his lips.  
"Thank you," Hyojin whispered in response, placing his hand on top of Seungjun's before closing his eyes.

Hyojin was woken up again when the others got back from their day trip, entering the room fairly loud.  
"You guys are back! What did the doctor say?" Minkyun asked, sitting down on the chair in front of Seungjun's bed.  
"Everything is fine, they gave him medicine against the fever though," Seungjun told them. He was still sitting by Hyojin's side, his hand slowly caressing his back.  
"That's great to hear, then you should be feeling better soon," Minkyun smiled. The tall boy always looked so innocent, even if he had his ears out, but there was always something mischievous in his smile.  
Hyojin only nodded in response before sitting up (with the help of Seungjun pulling him up) and leaning on Seungjun's shoulder.  
"What time is it?" he then asked.  
"About 6 p.m.," Yuto answered, once again sitting on his bed and dangling his feet down.

Hyojin only hummed at that, he didn't expect it to be that late already. Did Seungjun really just sit there the entire time?  
He muttered a small apology into Seungjun's shoulder that he probably didn't even hear but he felt the need to do so.

"So, what did you do today?" Seungjun then asked, mainly to get the attention away from Hyojin.  
"We went to one of those really old churches and hiked through the woods. After that, we had free time to go shopping and so on," Changyoon explained.

He and the others went on and told them about their trip. The other two were just listening but Hyojin sometimes spaced out a bit, fidgeting with Seungjun's fingers in the meantime while the younger was still caressing his back with his free hand.

When it was about time for dinner, Hyojin was about to just skip it but Seungjun and the others convinced him to go as he didn't eat anything over the whole day other than the small hospital meal he had before taking his medicine. 

No one asked what happened to Hyojin. Not like he wanted them to, he honestly did everything to avoid attention from his classmates. But they still stared at him in silence, which honestly wasn't that much better.   
His head was throbbing from all of the lights, so he just stared on his plate while he was eating, not saying a single word.

His thoughts went back to the medicine pack that was still in his jacket. He had to make sure Seungjun wouldn't find them or he would find out...  
He knew it wasn't right to not tell him the truth but he didn't want his heart to be broken, at least not yet. Because it wouldn't only break him because they had been friends for pretty much their whole life, but because he was also stupid enough to have a crush on his best friend.

"Is everything alright?" Seungjun asked in a whisper, his hand placed on Hyojin's thigh.  
"Yeah... I'm just getting a headache from the lights," Hyojin told him, just as quietly.  
"Did you drink enough?" the younger wanted to know.  
"Probably not," Hyojin laughed weakly. 

Seungjun basically forced Hyojin to drink a whole bottle of water once they were back in their room.  
This evening they decided to stay in again and play some more games while Hyojin rested.  
Of course, they tried their best to play calmly but pretty much all of them were bad losers so they got loud every now and then.

When it was late enough, Hyojin went to take a shower, making sure to take the pack of medicine with him so he could take them without the other's seeing them, placing the packaging on the sink before actually going under the shower.

Afterwards, he didn't even bother to do his skincare routine and just went and plopped down on his bed, hoping that his hair wouldn't look too horrific when he woke up the next morning.

He honestly wasn't even surprised when he woke up the next morning and Seungjun was next to him once again, hugging him.  
"Good morning," Hyojin mumbled against Seungjun's chest, tilting his head upwards a bit.  
"Morning," Seungjun smiled, sitting up.

"Where are the others?" Hyojin asked when he noticed that they were alone in the room.  
"They went to breakfast already," Seungjun explained to him.  
"Why didn't you wake me up?" the older then wanted to know.  
"You looked so cute and peaceful when you were asleep," the other told him, "and you needed the extra rest," he added.  
"But at least you could've gone," Hyojin argued with a frown but Seungjun just shook his head.   
"They should be back in a few minutes anyway, so let's get ready to head out," the younger stated, climbing down the bed.

Slowly, Hyojin followed, picking out an outfit and getting changed.  
Only when he heard the door of the bathroom click shut, he realized what he had forgotten the evening before.  
"Seungjun, wait!" he called out, pure panic resonating in his voice but it was already too late.  
When Seungjun came out of the bathroom, he was holding the pack of suppressants in his hands, the inscription clearly reading ‘Capreolus’.

"What is this?" he asked, holding the pack up for the older to read himself.  
Hyojin didn't answer. He couldn't. He couldn't even move an inch. He only stared at Seungjun, waiting for the worst to happen.  
"Why did you never tell me?" Seungjun continued, his voice rising as he took a step towards Hyojin who automatically backed up until his back was met with the wall.  
"Do you not trust me? Aren't I your best friend?!" he questioned.

Hyojin opened his mouth to say something but closed it again when not a single sound came out of it. Tears were making their way down his cheeks and dripping onto the ground, his heart felt like it just completely shattered.

He must look like a deer in headlights.

"Hey guys, are you awake? We're supposed to meet downstairs in five minutes," Minkyun said when he entered the room with the others, totally clueless about what was happening.

Hyojin's body was already full of adrenaline so when he heard someone else enter the room, his fight-or-flight response kicked in and he ran out of the room and out of the hostel. The tears were still hot on his cheeks and he was sure that he looked pathetic as all hell but he just wanted to get away from everything. He could deal with the teacher later, maybe he'll get sent home in advance, which he would honestly prefer right now.

Only after Hyojin left did Seungjun realise what just happened. He let the medicine fall to the ground, tears forming in his eyes as well.

"Uh... what just happened?" Changyoon dared to ask.  
"I... I fucked up. Really bad," Seungjun mumbled in reply. 

He had never in his life raised his voice towards Hyojin like that, so why did he do it now? Why did he even react like that? There was no fucking reason. They could've just talked about it normally if it wasn't for his own stupidity.

"Minkyun, can you open the upper window for me?,” Yuto asked, “I'll go look for Hyojin."   
"But what about the teachers?" the other asked in reply.  
"Just tell them I didn't feel so well. I can probably find him faster than any of you," the younger stated. And it was true, as a raven he could easily overlook the city so it shouldn't be a problem for him to spot Hyojin as long as he was outside.

Therefore, Minkyun climbed onto the table and opened the upper window as the lower ones couldn't be opened fully.  
"And make sure Seungjun doesn't do anything stupid," Yuto muttered before changing into his raven form and flying out of the window.

Seungjun was still just standing there, staring at the pack of medicine on the ground.  
"Come on, Seungjun, let's go downstairs. The class is probably waiting for us," Minkyun spoke up, carefully dragging the other along but letting him have enough time to calm down as best as possible before they would be seen by the other students.

Jaeyoung excused Yuto, saying that he was sick and that Hyojin would stay with him because he wasn't feeling all that well either.   
The teacher, of course, believed him so they made their way out for their day trip.

It didn't really take Yuto that long until he found Hyojin walking along the streets but he didn't fly down to him just yet and instead just followed him for a while, close enough to guess how he was feeling.  
Only when he was sure that the older wouldn't instantly run away, he got to the ground and turned back into his human form.

"Hyojin," he called out, walking up to him.  
Of course, the older was startled by that. His eyes were still all red and puffy from crying but he honestly couldn't care anymore.  
"What are you doing here, shouldn't you be with the class?" he asked in a broken voice.  
"I was looking for you, I called in sick." the younger explained, still keeping an appropriate distance from Hyojin.

"Let's go back, okay?" Yuto then suggested, knowing that the other would give in.

The walk back was completely silent but that didn't matter. Yuto also updated the others that he found the older and was bringing him back to the hostel.

"Did you take your medicine for today?" Yuto asked him when they got back to the room.  
"No..." the other replied, looking at the package that was now on the table. Seungjun hated him for it after all...  
With a deep sigh, he took out one of the pills and took it with a bit of water. He at least didn't have to hide it anymore. And what worse could happen now anyway?

"Did Seungjun say anything?" he then asked Yuto, just staring at the wall in front of him.  
"Not really. When we asked what happened he just said that he 'fucked up'," Yuto told him. "He doesn't hate you if that’s what you're afraid of. And I'm pretty sure Seungjun is fearing that as well now," he explained.  
Hyojin's head jerked up as he looked at the other. "Like I would ever hate him," he argued.  
"And the exact same applies to him. There's nothing you could do that would make him hate you, I've seen him talk about you Hyojin," Yuto stated, "just talk to him when he gets back, okay?"  
Hyojin took another deep breath. "Okay," he gulped.

The time while they waited for the class to come back was unbearably long and Hyojin was constantly thinking about how he should approach Seungjun. Even after what Yuto told him, somewhere deep inside him still feared being hated by Seungjun.

When the door finally opened there was definitely a weird tension in the air but everyone tried to just ignore it somehow.  
"Can we talk?" Seungjun asked when he was standing in front of Hyojin's bed.

Yuto took this as his cue to shoo everyone out of the room so they could be in private, saying some lame excuse along the lines of going to get something to eat.

When they closed the door, the other two just looked at each other in silence.  
Hyojin was trying his best to keep looking at the younger without tearing up again but he failed pretty quickly.  
Of course, Seungjun's first reaction was to climb up to him and pull him into a tight hug.  
"I'm sorry," Hyojin sobbed into Seungjun's shoulder, weakly clawing into Seungjun's hoodie.  
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that," Seungjun told him, running his hand up and down Hyojin's back.  
"I would've reacted that way too," Hyojin weakly laughed, "I didn't tell you after I initially found out even though I should have...".  
"It's fine," Seungjun told him, loosening the hug a bit and wiping away Hyojin's tears. "But why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his eyes somehow sad.

"I..." the other began, new tears streaming down his face, "I thought you would hate me," he choked out, looking anywhere but the younger.  
"Where did you get that idea from? I would never hate you, especially for something you can't choose," Seungjun frowned but Hyojin could only shrug.  
"Because I'm not like you?" he then guessed.

"So what? I like you because you are you, Hyojin, not because you are someone else," Seungjun told him, cupping his cheeks.  
Finally, Hyojin looked at him again. Seungjun's expression was so soft and fond. So different from what Hyojin expected him to be.

"So you don't hate me?" he asked in a small voice.  
"Of course not, silly," Seungjun smiled, "the opposite actually," he then admitted. The blush on his cheeks making Hyojin frown.  
"Wha-what do you mean?" he asked, his heart beating faster.

"What's the opposite of hate, Hyojin?" Seungjun asked with a laugh.  
"Like?" Hyojin frowned.  
"No, more than that," the other told him.

When Hyojin realized what he meant, he could feel his cheeks warming up.  
"Tell me Hyojin, what do I feel towards you when it's the opposite of hate?" Seungjun once again questioned with a smile but Hyojin was too perplexed to answer.

Seungjun's smile only grew bigger when he saw Hyojin's reaction, slowly reducing the space between them so they could feel each other's breaths.  
"I love you, Kim Hyojin," he whispered, looking the other right in the eyes.  
"I- I love you too," Hyojin managed to say, the closeness almost letting him forget how to speak.

With that, Seungjun closed the gap between them, pressing a short kiss on Hyojin's lips.

After they parted again, Hyojin held his eyes shut for a bit longer, trying to process what just happened and contemplating if it wasn't just a fever dream after all. But the way Seungjun caressed his cheek just felt too real.

Seungjun's face was still close when Hyojin opened his eyes but he closed them again when Seungjun pressed a kiss on his cheek.  
"God, I waited so long to do this," Seungjun smiled, his eyes sparkling when he kissed him on the lips again, longer, more passionate this time.  
Hyojin let out a small whimper when they parted again, letting his head fall onto Seungjun's shoulder.

"Will you let me see it one day?" Seungjun asked, running his hand through Hyojin's hair.  
Of course, the older knew what he meant with 'it' so he lowly hummed after a short period of silence.  
"When we're back home," he promised and he could literally hear the smile in Seungjun's voice.  
"I bet you look super cute," he smiled, planting another kiss on top of Hyojin's head.

**Author's Note:**

> hhhhhh it's finally finished ayyy
> 
> I might turn this whole universe into an au with multiple stories somewhere along the way where I also introduce the other's beast forms etc (and maybe add some spice 👀)  
> also thank you to the gay lil onf discord server for helping me with some of this stuff :D
> 
> Anyway,,,, i hope y'all liked it, if so, feel free to leave comments and kudos.  
> See you next time,  
> Phi~
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/Phi_JiJi)


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